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Saturday, 27 March 2010

KAKERA: A PIECE OF OUR LIFE, a film by Momoko Andô

Date: 02/04/2010 Venue: The Institute of Contemporary Art, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH

Fee: £9 / £8 Concessions / £7 ICA Members

Organiser: Third Window Films, ICA

Based on the best-selling manga ‘Love Vibes’ by Erika Sakurazawa and featuring a soundtrack by James Iha (former guitarist of The Smashing Pumpkins), the debut feature of Momoko Andô, is a delicately-nuanced portrait of two very different women, Haru and Riko. Haru is a college student who is frustrated by the lack of any real spark between herself and her idle, indifferent boyfriend, who only seems to be interested in her for sex. One day, while brooding over a cappuccino in a cafe, she catches the eye of Riko. Riko joins her, and the two strike up a conversation. They start to discuss life and Riko mentions that she has a job as a medical artist, creating body parts that attempt to emulate the function of those lost through accident and disease. Riko’s role is to cure the psychological traumas arising from the patient’s physical deficiencies by balancing body and soul. While Haru might be physically intact, Riko sees in her a certain emotional wanting to which she might provide a cure, and the two begin an all-encompassing relationship that draws Haru away from her dissatisfying routine and into a new and more emotionally fulfilling area of her life. As the loving relationship develops between the two, their bond is tested by Haru’s ex boyfriend, society’s view, and the growing pains of adolescents, as the couple experience the pains of discovering themselves and their place in the world. KAKERA: A PIECE OF OUR LIFE is a perceptive, well thought out drama, examining love, and desire.